Speculations for Chapter 72+ (spoilers -be warned)

I really like NANA. I cant wait to see what happens next. But for now, I wanna know what everyone else thinks. Anybody wanna comment on what's happened so far and take a guess at what's going to happen next? (Er... we're discussing volume 18 and chapters 72+ so there will be spoilers if you haven't read the manga to this point...)

The biggest mystery, of course, is what happened to Nana. How could she disappear in a way that no one is sure whether she lives or died? This means she didn't just simply up and leave, right? This is what I think: I think Nana tried to kill herself. This is why I think this: On page 24 of chapter 66, Nana said "I was looking for a place to die... And I found this farway place... So why am I still here." She probably left a suicide note behind and went to kill herself (near the ocean maybe...by drowning). But she didn't succeed or didn't go through with it. For some reason, she found a way to continue living. This, I think, explains why Hachi and the band is unsure whether she is alive or not at first and was so glad when they saw those pictures of her. ========Mystery two: Who is that little boy in chapter 70 page 21? Well, the woman with him is Layla, right? So... is he her son, you think? And who's his daddy? Ren, Takumi, Shin... three possibilities.

At first, I didn't think Takumi or Ren can be the father, because the kid has light hair and Ren and Takumi both have dark hair... eh, but the kid could have just taken after his mother, right?

Personally, However, I don't think it can be Ren's kid. Ren and Layla are just friends. Just because she commented on Ren's composition while gazing at the child doesn't mean anything. I don't think Ren feels about her the same way that he feels about Nana. And the little boy looked to be as old as Hachi's kid. So way Ren had an affair with Layla 5-6 years earlier when Nana was still around.

Takumi is a likely canidate, since they embraced in chapter 70/71, right? So they could have gotten the together, had an affair and bam!..baby. Didn't Hachi's daughter also mentioned an older brother. An older brother could mean another child between Hachi and Takumi or one between Takumi and Layla. hehe. If the kid is Takumi's, I'd be really sad. He's really too cute to be the child of that lousy bastard.

Shin is a high canidate for fatherhood, here, because 5-6 years earlier he definitely did sleep with Layla. So it could be their child. ========And then there's Ren... what happened to him? Blast and Trapnest both broke apart, right? Since the radio announcer called Layla's song (Trust) "a blast from the past." Ren is still playing the guitar, but according to Hachi "that's all he ever does." That sounded pretty sad to me. Did it sound sad to any of you? I bet he was pretty bummed out when Nana disappeared. And before that (before Nana left) he was already sniffing crack like crazy. I can't imagine what he's doing now. Everyone seems to be worried about him, and asking one another whether he is ok and "how he's doing." =========I like the look of future Nana. She seems so mature, even if a little forlorn and lonely. And she doesn't sing punk rock anymore. I thought she looked really beautiful and classy standing next to the piano and holding the wine glass while she sang. Ah, but her eyes... omg, just looking at her eyes made me cry. I hope she can find happiness.

I'm really looking forward to the reunion... which looks like it might be soon.

When Layla turned to the little boy and said, 'Ren you are truly a genius' I thought she was talking directly to the boy - as in, the boy's name is Ren. To me, it seemed as though the boy Ren composed the song, not Nana's Ren.

Who knows if this boy is even Layla's - but I think if he is, Layla chose to name him after Ren because (don't kill me) I think Ren is dead. Maybe he got addicted to crack and went crazy thinking about Nana all the time and trying to keep her to himself (I don't know) and just spiraled out of control one day. The scene where Nana was talking to Takumi and the way the picture of Ren in the background kept coming up - it just seemed sad.

And if Ren had died, it would make sense if Nana just ran away and started singing in a cafe, in a foreign country, all by herself.

Also, Satsuki's brother may be the boy who was with Layla. Perhaps Takumi and Layla had a kid, so he's her half brother. BUT it seems rather unlikely. Perhaps Satsuki's "brother" is just Shinichi - with the way Shin and Nana kept joking around about their "mother and son" relationship, and the way Shin would ask about his little sister/brother, this doesn't seem all that improbable.

Ooh! That's really interesting... I hadn't even thought of that possibility. Omg, you're right! That boy could also be Ren's namesake. And he was playing a guitar, too. So what happened to Ren I wonder?

Ren's death would be a very good reason why Nana went away. All that drug use from before made me so worried about him. It's like he wants to destroy himself.

Edit: Ah... but I don't think Ren actually died though. In chapter 66, when Hachi and Nobu was talking on the bed, didn't they mention how Ren couldn't make it to the firework festival last year? I don't thik they were talking about the litto kid. So that means Ren is still alive... at least up until last year he is, right? Ah... and when Yasu and Shin was driving in the car, Shin said that Hachi thought it was Ren who snuck the pictures of Nana into her mailbox (which of course isn't true, because Kurata was the one who took those pictures). Yasu then replied that it was a possibility. Isn't that another clue that Ren was still alive?

God, I hope he is... it would be so sad if he died or something. But I can't think of anything else that would make Nana leave like that.

Ah, you're right. Well that's a relief. One of the qualities that attracted me to this manga was its realism. The heartbreak, the cheating, the flaws - the mangaka laid it out so eloquently that I couldn't help but be drawn to such a story. But at the same time, I still dread the bad stuff. Thank goodness that Ren doesn't die.

Perhaps Nana went away because of several issues; a major one being her family and her mother's refusal to acknowledge Nana... another one being Ren, how he can't be there for her all the time or wants her to maintain her independence... and then Yasu, he'd be more involved with his girlfriend, as well as Nobu, so they can't really be there for her either... then Hachi, even though she loves Nana very deeply, can only do so much, as she is becoming a mother and a wife. I suspect some shocker acts as a "last straw" kind of thing for Nana, and then she just leaves. Runs away from it all.

Argh! I can't stand the suspense. There's also this sense of inevitable doom at the end of Ch 71. I desperately want to read until I catch up to the future (Satsuki & Co.)!!! And until then, all we can do is speculate. Sigh.

I really love nana too! it's my latest obsession (hehe)!!People seem to think the boy is layla an shin's child but i strongly believe he is takumi's child.my reasons for beleving this? well for one... 1.) hachi's daughter mentioned having a brother. hachi obviously doesn't have another child so i belive she was talking about the boy. though at fist i thought she was talking about shin because hachi often talk about being shins serogate mother, but i knew it wasn't him after she said she had a crush on shin. 2.) we all seen what happened between takumi and layla enough said.3.)i dont belive its shin's because he ended things with layla and they hadn't even spoken in months and as far as we know she wasn't pregnet. but still their is a possibility it's his i'll admit. anywho aside from that subject i also don't belieeve ren is dead. when they showed them in the present for the first time and they were getting together fr the fireworks someone (i think nobu) said "where's ren" and how "he's always late". also in another present day scene with hachi and nobu siting on the bed talking he asked her about ren and she said he had been spending a lot of time in london at takumi's.another thing i wanted to talk about was hachi and takumi possibly getting a DIVORCE!!!!! I was so excited at the thought of them getting a divorce. i'm a major fan of hachi&nobu and even though they probably aren't going to get back together i'll always have hope for them. as for the whole nana being m.i.a i'm not really sure what to think about that, but i can't wait to see what happens next.

Yeah me too, I'm dying from curiosity. Like who is the child of that kid and if he is even the son of Layla? -I personally think he is Layla and Takumi's son because it was mentioned that Satsuki has a brother, which obviously isn't Hachiko's. What happened to Ren? -No idea, I guess he is a total junkie now? I didn't like him with Nana anyway.What happened with Nana?Poor Nana, I guess she got really tired with the whole thing with Ren..really who wouldn't? I really wish for Nana to be with Yasu and knowing Ai-sensei I'd say it has a very high possibility.

Personally I think the mystery boy is not Takumi's but Shin's. Because Takumi's love for Layla is rather platonic. And the mystery boy looks more like Shin than Takumi. There are arguments that Hachi said something about a brother, but that can mean Hachi may have another child or some close friend. Things have happen between Layla and Takumi in chapter 71; however, we see him burning the note that Layla gave him which may show that he does not want to continue this affair or at least he doesn't want to "taint" his singing bird. Nana O. I believe she's still alive, and Ren is prob still alive.

From what I've read of chapter 73, it seems that it is most likely takumi's baby, which would be why nana was discussing divorce with juno. Then again i don't really understand how reira can raise a child by her self if she's so needy in the first place. it could be possible that takumi's leading two lives, one with nana and one with reira. If reira did name her child ren then i think it'd make sense. If all the futures scene where they referred to ren was in fact a reference to reira's child then it would make sense that takumi is raising that child too. Either way what happened couldn't have been really happy.

I would really doubt that the boy is Layla's. Based from what we've read so far, the boy is older than Satsuki-chan. That would eliminate the possibility of Layla being pregnant before Hachiko. I am very convinced that the boy is Hachiko's first child and Satsuki being the second. If you read ch 74 again, there's a part where Takumi was telling Naoki something about baby Ren not wanting to go to Japan and that Nana would want him over the summer. That's how I interpreted it.

Also, in ch 74 where they showed Layla in the park talking to "imaginary" Ren, she said something about hurting everything that is dear to Takumi but couldn't hurt the little boy whose name is after Ren. She would be referring to the boy. She wouldn't say such thing if the boy was hers.

i think the little boy "Ren" is Takumi and Hatchi's first child.Also the issue with Ren be dead is mentioned in chapter 78 that he died, and that is probably the reason Nana left. this really makes me sad though and wish that it were not true, i love Ren